


He loves me, he loves me not

by Atalto



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Flowers, Gardenia!, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Romance, Shance Flower Exchange 2018, Shiro has a crush, magical alien love rituals, pining lance, pining shiro
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-01
Updated: 2018-05-01
Packaged: 2019-04-30 14:52:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,892
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14499393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Atalto/pseuds/Atalto
Summary: Shiro loves Lance.It’s not the most well known fact of the universe, but it is true.It’s a shame that Lance really doesn’t love him back.~Voltron gets called in to help with an Alien marriage ritual, and in the process, two Paladins are forced to face their feelings for each other, whether they like it or not.A gift for tumblr user @itswhatimreallythinking, as part of the Shance Flower Exchange on Tumblr!(The flower was Gardenia, and I went with the ‘secret love’ interpretation)





	He loves me, he loves me not

**Author's Note:**

> Hello all!!!
> 
> It’s finally posting day!! I’m very excited to show this to y’all. This is a gift for tumblr user @itswhatimreallythinking, so I hope you like this bud!!!!
> 
> Enjoy!

They had been flying for what felt like hours before Black's Sensors finally perked up.

  
Sure, they had been hours of fun banter, combined with a few word games that Lance remembered from family road trips, but they had been long hours.

  
Shiro was never good at long-haul flights.

"Alright team, look alive."  
Slowly, Shiro dragged one hand down his face, gradually becoming aware of the return of control as Black began to come off autopilot.

The planet - Trenzig, Coran had called it - was just about coming into view, a combination of lush green forest and solid white ice caps. Not too unlike Earth, he thought slyly, if Earth had about sixty percent less ocean and one giant continent rather than seven.

 _"Why do we have to do this, anyway?"_ Pidge asked with a huff, the roll of her eyes almost audible, and Shiro could just about make out a click of her tongue through the grainy audio feed.

  
_"Because the Tenzin asked us to,"_ Keith shot back, earning an irritated groan from Pidge in return.

  
One by one, the Paladins began to pop up on the screen; they were all in varying states of exhaustion, and Shiro felt himself relate. They all knew he had been on pretty much one diplomatic mission a day recently, and when half your team is comprised of introverts, having to enter long talks with aliens every day starts to get a bit repetitive.

  
He never thought he'd think it, but he would love a random Galra attack right now.

 _"That, and it would look bad for Voltron? Or something?"_ Hunk chimed in, quoting Allura's speech back on the castleship, _"I don't really think we have a choice, either way."_

  
In a way, Shiro agreed with both of them; really, officiating some kind of alien marriage ceremony was something they could really do without at the moment, but turning them down could affect the native's image of Voltron. This left him balancing the needs of the team against the needs of the coalition half the time, much to practically everyone's grief.

  
_"I don't see why you're all hating this,"_ Lance butted in with a carefree laugh, _"think of it as a holiday, what could go wrong?"_  
Shiro felt himself grin, or at least, give a small smile; of course, the resident extrovert had no issue with this.

  
_"Lance, don't you dare-"_

  
"Guys," Shiro interrupted, speeding Black up to lead the other four down, "if this is paining you that much, think of it as another Voltron show - we may not like it, but we have to do bit."

  
_"At least Keith is actually Keith this time,"_ Hunk said with a laugh, and Shiro couldn't help but snicker in response, _"I think Allura's gonna' explode if she gets called Keith once more."_

As another laugh went around the group, the planet began to pull into view. Individual colours began to disentangle themselves from the flat green, which in turn split into mosses and limes and ferns.

  
Hopefully, they really wouldn't be down there for long; Coran was vague about what the entire process entailed, only mentioning some kind of evening meal and a large ritualistic event where loving couples were paired off to be 'together until the bebzels fly over the kinfams.'

So really, not much information at all.

 _"Hey, Shiro?"_ He heard Lance ask, and he shook his head to focus himself, _"what kind of stuff are we even going to be doing?"_

  
"I'm not sure," he answered honestly, laughing dryly, "Coran wasn't exactly detailed."

  
_"Darn,"_ Lance replied, and Shiro could hear him clicking his fingers over the comms, _"oh well, looks we're in for a magical mystery ride kinda' thing."_

  
_"Maybe you should leave the talking to Shiro, Lance,"_ Pidge snarked, and Shiro could practically picture the offended look on Lance's face, _"you'll probably end up accidentally marrying someone."_

  
_"No, I won't,"_ Lance shot back, _"besides my heart belongs to_ _another, anyway, so shut up!"_

  
Did it?

  
A pang of jealousy shot through his gut, unbidden and angry.

Really, his crush on Lance wasn't exactly unexpected. He'd noticed Lance right from the start, only he hadn't foreseen it ever becoming a problem.

  
Only, now they were with each other pretty much all hours of the day, it was harder to avoid; the flutter of his heart at every smile Lance sent his way, the blush that he tried not to show when he complimented Shiro's leadership after every fight, the tingle that travelled through his spine at every throwaway touch or friendly punch.

  
It wasn't even just that. His jokes were terrible, but a good terrible.  
And the only reason he ever got mad at Lance's pickup lines was because they weren't aimed at him-

_Not now, Shiro._

"Paladins, focus," he said with a sigh, pulling Black back as atmospheric entry began to shake the Lion, "we'll be landing any second now. Are you all ready?"  
A chorus met him, and Black roared in the back of his mind.

Showtime.

* * *

 

It didn't take long for the lions to touch down in a field of white flowers, swaying gently in the breeze. White was all Shiro could see really, stretching out as far as they would care to look in imitations of dancing waves. He could feel Black's innocent regret at crushing the flowers, and the ground rumbled beneath her paws as the other lions landed behind her.

 _"Oh man,"_ he heard Hunk remark, _"this place is beautiful."_

  
_"Green says the atmosphere reads as safe,"_ Pidge chimed in, accompanied by the sounds of the other Paladins shuffling in their lions, _"let's go!"_

  
Gently tapping Black's dashboard as he stood, Shiro turned to the exit, slipping his helmet on with a grin. The Paladins seemed excited, if a little hesitant, and a quick hiss of the airlock introduced him to the biting outside air.

It was colder than he thought it was going to be.

"Hey, Shiro!" Lance called, and Shiro's head snapped around to see the others stood in front of Black's airlock, "nice to see you, fearless leader!"

  
"You guys seem excited," he replied with a slight laugh as he jogged over, just in time to see Hunk grimace and Keith roll his eyes.

  
"Yeah, excited to get this over with, maybe," Pidge said with a sarcastic snort, earning a light push from Hunk and a stifled laugh from Lance.

  
"Look, it can't be that bad," Lance assured, placing his hands on his hips and grinning confidently, "we go in, eat some food, bless some happy couples, chat up a cute alien or two, and leave! Another planet happy!-"

  
"I though you said your 'heart already belonged to someone else'?" Keith asked, raising an eyebrow in judgement, and Lance's face dropped, "what happened to her?"

  
Shiro felt the jealousy stab through his veins once again.  
"Oh, them?" Lance spluttered in reply, "they're- they're still here, they're just-"

  
"Back on Earth?" Shiro asked, averting his eyes to focus on the dainty flowers on the ground.  
Lance's feet shuffled against the ground. "Something like that."

  
"It's probably Jenny Shobon," Hunk snarked, grinning, "or the other Jenny, you know, the one in communications - I get them confused."

  
"It's not Jenny!" Lance shot back, and Shiro stood up to see him fold his arms and grumble, "does it really matter?"

  
"No," Pidge said with a shrug, "but the more blackmail on you, the better."

  
"What?"

  
Keith gave a gentle laugh, folding his arms and shifting his weight. "We just want to know which poor person has to suffer though your attempts at dating-"

  
"Hey!" Lance shouted, and Shiro stifled a laugh at his dramatic expression, "I am a fantastic boyfriend, I'll have you know, and- and it's not either Jenny, Hunk, stop laughing!"

  
"Well, who is it then?" Hunk asked, obviously fighting through laughter.

  
"Who cares?"

  
"Us!"

  
"Guys," Shiro interjected, and all eyes in the group spun to him, "the more time we spend teasing Lance here, the more time we have to spend at this marriage ceremony."

  
"Aw," Pidge complained, playful smirk still on her face, and Shiro couldn't ignore the way Lance's face lit up behind her, "but teasing Lance is fun."

  
Laughing under his breath, Shiro turned his head towards the city the loomed on the horizon.  
"I know."

As they walked away, he tried his hardest not to notice Lance's blush.

He failed.

* * *

 

They had been met at the gates by the tiniest alien Shiro had ever seen, about the hight of their hips and a vibrant green against the dusty yellow-grey of the grass. They had waved them all over with one spotted arm, the other three flailing out behind them wildly as it's ferret-like lower body seemed to move in time with its wagging tail.

"It's tiny" Hunk cooed quietly as they drew closer, clasping his hands in front of him, "so cute!"

  
"Don't let them hear you say that Hunk," Pidge said dryly, "they might flay you or something."

  
Keith shrugged, giving a rare grin. "You do have to agree though, they are kinda' cute."

The alien just wagged it's tail, grinning widely, before practically jumping into the air with what seemed to be pure excitement.

  
"It's great to finally have you here!" They squeaked, waving a second arm as Shiro drew nearer, "It's an honour to have you come for our little celebration!"

"You wouldn't stop sending distress signals until we agreed," Shiro heard Pidge whisper under her breath.

With a nonchalant shrug, Lance stepped forwards, flashing a grin towards the Tenzin.

"The honour is all ours, tiny guy," he said easily, and if anything, the Tenzin's tail seemed to wag harder, "anything we can do to help?"

  
The Tenzin nodded, smiling face turning into a focused look that was hard to take seriously. "We just need a high power to officiate the ceremony," they explained, body turning towards the large city, "usually the Galra would send a commander over, so if you'd like, we can provide a sacrifice-"

"That really won't be necessary," Shiro interrupted, taking a step forwards urgently, "your people don't deserve to be sacrificed."

The Tenzin perked up again immediately, face flashing between surprised and ecstatic.

  
"Oh, thank you, kind paladin!" They cried, and suddenly started zipping around their feet, only to produce five of the beautiful white flowers in their hands, "please, take these as a symbol of our gratitude!"

Leaning down, Shiro accepted the flower in his hand; the petals were soft in his hand, large and untouched, only curling slightly from age rather than damage. The other Paladins had been given one too - Hunk was scanning his, maybe for possible use in teas or as a spice, whilst Keith was tossing his between his hands, frowning down at the small bloom. Pidge was holding hers up to the light, looking at the way the alien light came through the petals, and Lance had stuck his own in his hair and was grinning at himself in his phone reflection, stem curling around his ear haphazardly-

"Thank you," Shiro said, head turning back down to the Tenzin, "do you want to take us inside?"

  
"Of course!" The Tenzin replied with a nod, scuttling back around to the front of the group, "my name is Betaya, by the way, and I'll be your guide for the ceremony today, okay?"

The Tenzin - Betaya - scampered off towards the city, waving for them to follow, and promptly getting lost in the blooms.

  
"This way!" He squeaked, and Shiro gave a shrug towards the other Paladins.

  
"Best get going then, I guess."

* * *

 

The walk to the central city didn't take long. Roughly half a Varga of traipsing through white flowers, with little to no other scenery except the rising high line on the horizon.

  
From what Shiro could see, the city was mostly comprised of high, domed buildings, tapered to pointed tips in the clouds and as white as the flowers they had been given when they arrived. There was lots of them as well, overlapping and flowing into one another - it must have been built up, heavily populated.

"This place is huge," he heard Lance gasp behind him, and Betaya appeared from under the plants.

  
"Our entire population is here!" They replied with a hint of pride to their voice, "the city is slowly expanding, but it's hard to survive anywhere else. So, high buildings!"

  
"Great," Hunk grumbled, somewhere behind Lance, and Shiro cringed, "this ceremony better not be on the top floor."

  
Betaya shrugged, diving back down into the flowers, and Shiro hoped they hadn't just heard Hunk.

The gate to the city, so tall that Shiro had to crane his neck to see the top, finally got close, and Betaya halted still in front of them.

  
"We must wait," they instructed, and a shining green light shot down from the top of the gate.

That was when Shiro experienced the oddest experience in a while.

It was like a fly had somehow gotten in his head, buzzing and slamming against the sides of his head as it rooted through - what? His memories? His thoughts?  
Memories of Lance suddenly flew to the front of his mind - Well, it wasn't Lance at first. It started as a girl he liked in elementary school, then his first boyfriend just before joining the Garrison.

  
Then, Lance.

  
It was a bit like floating, treading water in some infinite void. He also felt like he was falling, or at least, that water - tons and tons of water - was falling around him and he was falling with it. Black was there as well, somewhere, a gentle presence at the back of his mind not to be afraid, to accept this, that she wasn't going to leave him. And he trusted her, again, as the Blue lion appeared in the mindscape too.

  
His smile, his face, his voice, the blue of his eyes in the glittering sunlight of alien planets - what the hell are you thinking, Shiro?

Then it was gone.

  
He was back on solid ground, with his feet planted firmly on the floor and a buzzing in his veins that he could only describe as blue.  
He felt slightly giddy, and he breathed for the first time in what felt like hours.

"-Right, now if you'll just follow me!" He heard Betaya chirp, and he jumped, looking around to see the other Paladins looking completely fine.

Was he the only one that experienced that?

Nodding, Shiro followed anyway, straightening his posture and crossedsorry the gate, carrying on towards the city as the flowers thinned out to a gravel road.

  
"Hey, Shiro?"

"Keith," he replied, spinning hastily on his foot - Keith looked worried, concerned almost, and Shiro felt ice settle in this chest, "what's up?"

  
"Are you okay?" Keith asked, cutting off the last of his sentence and holding his arms out as if he thought Shiro was going to fall.

  
"I'm fine," he said easily, the lie feeling bitter on his tongue.

  
Keith shifted awkwardly in front of him, looking up almost judgementally before walking to fall into step with Shiro. "You looked as if you were gonna' faint back there," he explained, folding his arms across his chest, "did- did you eat something?- If it's the atmosphere, I'll kill Pidge-“

  
"Yeah, dude," another voice chimed in, and he turned to see Lance walking on his other side, looking equally as concerned, "maybe put your helmet up or something? Hunk said the oxygen levels were good to go, but he could've - I dunno', read it wrong?"

  
Shiro shook his head gently, unable to stop the small, grateful smile he sent Lance's way. "I'm fine, seriously," he repeated, focusing back on the road ahead, "it was just a dizzy spell, I'm okay now."

"As long as you're sure," Keith said under his breath, and Shiro could tell he didn't believe him.  
Lance just shrugged, still giving Shiro that same concerned glare, before-

  
"Hey Hunk, are you sure you read the oxygen right?"

In front of them, Hunk stopped dead, pausing in his conversation with Betaya.

"I think so," he shouted back, frowning in concentration, "no one's died, right?"

  
"Nope," Lance confirmed, and Hunk visibly sighed in relief, "but Shiro felt a little dizzy-"

  
"Tell him to stick his oxygen mask up!" Pidge interjected.

He loved Lance dearly, but why did he have to get everyone involved?

"Guys, I'm right here-"

  
"We've told him that!"

Shiro sighed heavily.  
At least they were within the city now, and Betaya had ran in front  
of them, grinning innocently as if they couldn't hear a word of what had just happened.

"So, first of all," Betaya explained, drawing them to a stop outside a large pair of ornate doors, tall enough that Shiro still had to look up to see the top, "this is the central hall, and this is where the ceremony will take place!"

  
"Everything is so big," Pidge commented, "but why? Your species is so tiny."

  
Betaya just grinned, tail still wagging slightly ominously.  
"Shall we enter?"

Before Pidge could reply, Betaya slammed their body against the door, pushing it open to reveal possibly the largest hall Shiro had ever seen.

The walls were dowsed in gold embellishments, curtain rails and statues, that stood out against the stark, clean white of the brick. As he walked in, flickering candles hanging on elaborate chandeliers caught his eye, swaying in a breeze that he couldn't quite place. It seemed they were a few of the last there, since the hall was also full of mingling Tenzin, laughing and talking in the same squeak that Betaya seemed to use.

"Ah, we're late," Betaya said behind them, and Shiro span around in confusion, "we've missed the delivery, but no matter! Let me show you to the high table!"

  
"What's the delivery?" Shiro asked pointedly, following Betaya as they pushed through crowds of Tenzin.

Betaya, again, didn't answer, instead shooting Shiro a wide grin before scurrying over to a long table at the back of the room, overlooking everything else. Five placemats were laid out in a flat Voltron formation, with green and yellow on one side, blue and pink on the other, with black in the middle.

But only Lance's placemat had a flower in the middle of it.

And only Betaya seemed to explode with excitement when they saw it.

"Blue paladin!" They called, suddenly zipping between Shiro's feet, "Blue paladin, you have an admirer!"

No.

Lance grinned, or at least, what he assumed was a grin, and pushed forward to look at the flower on his placemat. "Aw, that's so sweet," he cooed quietly, before turning around to send a smug look to the team, "so, which little Tenzin do I have to go and break the heart of?"

Behind him, Shiro heard Pidge groan.  
At least he might have gotten away without anyone thinking it was him-

"It's not a Tenzin, Blue Paladin," Betaya piped up, Bell-like laughter ringing out as Shiro felt his stomach sink uncomfortably, "It's one of your teammates, only they were made to pass through the Krinxeram!"

The smugness on Lance's face seemed to dissolve before them, into some weird mixture of shock and - something else. He wanted to say it was hope, but the worst kind of hope, judging by just how focused he was on someone else at the group. Shiro couldn't tell without being obvious, but it was either Keith or Hunk. Or maybe Pidge? Maybe two of them, or all three?

Either way, Lance had a crush on someone else, or-

  
No one else received a flower, right?

  
Lance didn't love any of them.

Part of Shiro was thankful, so thankful for that. He always knew he was the jealous type, and the thought of living in envy with someone he lived, ate, and fought alongside was festering in his gut.  
Then the regret kicked in, and he was left thinking that maybe he should have said something before this, something maybe just to indicate-

  
He stopped, shaking his head gently to clear his thoughts.  
They were Paladins, damnit, they had a job to do.

The dinner went quickly after that, but it was pulled into what felt like hours long. Betaya told Shiro beforehand how to correctly bless the Tenzin couples, and, although the mechanicalness of repetition was helping, he was aware he wasn't focusing at all on what was happening.

  
Which was annoying, because they needed to make a good impression here, and he really needed to focus on their sacred ceremony.

  
The dinner went quickly as well, something he was incredibly thankful for. The food was, mercifully, edible - he overheard that Hunk wanted to buy some of the vegetables of them - and the sticky point of 'who had a crush on Lance' seemed to have been forgotten in the rush of cinnamon-flavoured potato-like things.

Lance, meanwhile, was playing with the flower in the corner of Shiro's eye, and it took a surprising amount of willpower not to stare.

* * *

 

It was only once Shiro was alone in the room Betaya had given to him that he finally let himself crumple, sitting heavily on the raised bed and running a hand down his face.

  
It must have been the brain scan - the Krinxeram - at the gate. There wasn't any other explanation; he hadn't looked at Lance funny, nor had mentioned it at any point to Betaya.

  
Hopefully, it hadn't been too obvious that Shiro was this 'admirer', or at least, subtle enough that Lance hadn't noticed. Apologising to a random Tenzin he had a different crush was easy enough. Letting down a teammate you see everyday, and have an emotional bond with that is crucial to maintaining the strongest weapon in the universe and the saviour to many?

Now that was a bit harder.

And it was making Shiro's head hurt and his heart race to think about-

"Hey, Shiro?" A voice called from the other side of the door, and Shiro's head snapped up, "can I come in?"

  
Of course. Keith had some weird sixth sense when it came to him being unhappy, which was rarely ever wrong.

  
"Go ahead," he replied, hoping he didn't sound as rough as his ears told him he did, "the door's unlocked."

  
The door clicked open immediately, and Keith stepped in, frowning as he shut the door gently behind himself before moving to sit next to him.

  
"Hey," he started lamely, and Shiro couldn't help but laugh as Keith frowned deeper, folding his arms across his chest, "you've been acting weird all day."

  
"I'm sorry," Shiro apologises quickly, smiling wearily, "It's been an interesting day-"

  
"You're Lance's admirer, aren't you?"

Well, trust Keith to get to the point quickly.

Shiro laughed wryly, running a hand through his hair. "Was it that obvious?"

  
"Was what obvious?" Keith replied, and Shiro felt the bed dip beside him, "you've been looking at him funnily all day, and you got pretty affected by that brain scan at the gate-"

  
"So, did you guys just not get affected by that?" Shiro interrupted, finally turning his head to look up at Keith, "Lance was the only one of us to get a flower."

  
Keith shrugged, folding his hands into his lap. "You're the only one who has a crush on another paladin, I guess," he replied easily, and Shiro felt his heart sink, "Hunk was probably thinking of Shay, Pidge is way too caught up in looking for her dad, and I'm-"

  
"Busy thinking of Allura?”

  
Next to him, Keith flushed, angrily turning his head away and scowling at the floor, and Shiro began to laugh gently.

  
"That's- Thats not the point!" Keith shot back with a scowl, "I thought this talk was about you being thirsty, not me."

  
"You have to admit though," Shiro said with fading laughter, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his legs, "its funny."

  
"No, your pining after Lance and generally being pathetic is what's funny," he argued, "so, you should tell him."

Shiro felt his face fall.  
There is no way that would end well.

"That's out of the question," Shiro replied with a shake of his head, and looked over to see Keith scowling again.

  
"Why? You don't know that he won't like you back-"

  
"Keith, you said it yourself," he explained, moving his hands in time with his speech, "Lance was the only one to receive a flower. I didn't receive one in return, therefore, he can't return my feelings."

Keith fell silent at that.

"Maybe just try-?"

  
Shiro replied with another laugh, but this one was harsher, bordering on hysterical. "No, Keith, please."

  
Keith's face melted into a weird concoction of sympathy and concern, and he reached over to place a gentle hand on Shiro's shoulder.

  
"I'm sorry-"

  
"It's fine," Shiro replied easily, leaning gently to the touch, "it will be fine."

 

* * *

 

"So, who do ya' think it was from?"

Lance shrugged, falling backwards against the large bed. "I dunno'," he mumbled, holding the flower up to the neon-like light on the ceiling, "do you?"

  
"Nope," Hunk replied, looking over his shoulder at Lance from the small Tenzin machine he was working on repairing, "but like, it can't be hard to work it out, right?"

  
Lance shrugged again, shuffling up the bed to prop his back up against the headboard, and Pidge hummed in vague agreement from where she had stationed her laptop on the second bed.

"Process of elimination, right?" he asked, twisting his face in thought, "like, was it you?"

  
"Nah, sorry dude," Hunk said with a sheepish grin, "Pidge, are you harbouring a secret lil' crush on Lance-?"

  
"Don't even think about it," Pidge replied flatly, not looking up from her keyboard.

"So you're telling me it's- it's either Keith or Shiro?"

Hunk turned back around, placing the small machine down on the floor before crawling onto the bed beside Lance.

  
"I guess," he replied, grin slowly beginning to spread across his face, "oh man, think about it - Keith, the poor, pining rebel who has no idea how to talk to his crush, bless him-"

  
"It's not Keith," Pidge piped up, finally looking up from her laptop to grin knowingly, "yeah, he's pining, but trust me, it's not over Lance.”

  
Lance whined, flopping an arm over the side of the bed in defeat. "Why am I offended by that? I'm prime pining material- wait, who's mullet in love with them."

  
Pidge just tapped her nose, earning a groan from Lance. "Well, someone has to have agreed with you on the pining material thing-"

  
"Wait," Hunk butted in, confusion melting into what Lance could only describe as a shit-eating grin, "that only leaves Shiro-"

"No, no, no," Lance interrupted, folding his arms childishly, "I'm not getting my hopes up, that's not fair!"

  
Hunk clicked his tongue, lying next to Lance on the bed. "Why's it getting you hopes up? It's obviously him."

  
"Obviously, huh?" Lance whined, rolling over to face Hunk, "how is it obvious?"

"Think about it," Hunk mused, rolling into his back and resting his hands behind his head leisurely, "he always takes the time to make sure you're okay after every mission and training session, before anyone else, right? And all the gentle touches, and he laughs at your jokes-"

  
"Does he?" Lance asked, voice tinged in disbelief; Shiro definitely didn't laugh at his jokes, or at least, he never heard him laugh.

  
"All the time," Hunk assured, gesturing in the air, "you just don't hear it because he's trying to look like the perfect leader guy, but his face goes all red and blotchy, it's, uh, actually quite funny-"

  
"And you should have seen how he was acting after we saw you got the flower," Pidge added, lowering the lid of her laptop to lean back on her hands, "like, sad? Like a kid that had just been told they weren't going to Disneyland anymore."

  
"Yeah, right," Lance scoffed, "why would he be sad?"

  
"Because he didn't get one back, dumbass," Pidge snapped.

  
"And?"

  
Next to him, Hunk hummed in confusion, and Lance was suddenly aware of his fingers prodding the side of his head. "Hunk, what-?"

  
"So, the flowers were given out to people who had admirers, right? From the brain scans?" Hunk questioned, and Lance hissed as he tugged on his hair experimentally, "so how did you get past it?"

  
On the other side of the room, Pidge frowned in confusion. "Get past what?"

  
"The brain scan!" Hunk shouted back, "because I know for a fact that you have a crush on Shiro-"

"Lance has a crush on Shiro?"

"Wha- Where did you find out about that?" Lance replied in shock, practically jumping out of Hunk's grip.

  
"You literally had a poster of him on your wall in the Garrison, and we all see you staring at least, like, once a day," Hunk said with a shrug, and Lance felt his face heat up uncomfortably as Pidge snickered, "but that's not the point-"

  
Lance huffed in annoyance, folding his arms and sitting up against the headboard. "So what is the point?"

  
"Well, I know you still like him - 'your heart belongs another', remember?"

Hunk, unfortunately, had a point.

There wasn't much doubt about that.  
Shiro was always someone he admired, someone he idolised and adored. He'd worshipped the ground he walked on back at the Garrison - probably less subtly than he would have liked, but who cared? Pretty much everyone had a crush on Shiro at the Garrison - and a part of that admiration had inevitably carried through to Voltron. Sure, it was less hero worship now, since Shiro wasn't this untouchable, perfect Adonis anymore, but it was something else-

  
Something more, deeper and more open, warmer than the cold idolisation ever was. Maybe he wanted to wake up in his arms every morning, but he wasn't ever going to admit that. Maybe he wanted to be the one that Shiro admitted his fears to, the one who kissed away tears after each nightmare, but the others didn't need to know that.

  
It went a lot deeper than jokes about crushes like he was twelve or something-

  
Because Shiro wasn't really his hero anymore. Not in a bad way, but, now, Lance knew he was human with flaws and imperfections. A human with grey eyes that the posters couldn't properly animate and possibly the softest smile he'd ever seen on a person-

_Oh shit._

"I'll take that as a yes?" Hunk said next to him, and Lance groaned as he covered his face with an arm.

  
"Can you just leave me on this planet to die?" He whined in embarrassment, "because I don't physically think I can face him again."

"So you're telling me," Pidge asked, closing the lid of her laptop completely, "that Lance got past the brain scan because he didn't realise he was properly in love rather than just as a joke?"

  
"Or you thought it was just hero worship and the gate didn't consider that as actual love," Hunk said slowly.

Lance just groaned.

"But think about it," Pidge spoke up again, and Lance looked over to see a reassuring smile on her face, "he likes you, and you like him, so why don't you just ask him out? Or are you too coward?"

  
"Alright then, I will!" Lance shot back, sitting up before falling back against the headboard, "tomorrow."

  
That apparently earned him a shove from Hunk. "No, Lance, now."

  
"Fine, but if this goes terribly, I'm blaming you guys!"

* * *

 

_Tap tap tap._

At the sound, Shiro's head snapped up, glaring at the wooden door on the other side of the room.  
He looked at Keith next to him, who looked equally as confused.

_Tap tap tap._

"Hey, Shiro?" A familiar, albeit shaky voice called from the door, and a swirling, aching rift ripped open in Shiro's chest, "it's- it's me, can I talk to you for a sec'?"

Lance was pretty much the last person he wanted to see right now, no matter how much pep-talking Keith attempted to put him through.

  
He knew how this conversation was going to go; Lance was here to step inside, awkwardly admit he knew it was Shiro, say how flattered he is so he doesn't feel bad, and then gently turn him down. He'd be hurt, but he'd get over it, Voltron wouldn't be affected and the Paladins would be none the wiser.

  
That is, if he hadn't already talked it through with Hunk - Lance told Hunk everything, of course he knew as well-

  
And Hunk and Pidge were coding buddies and Hunk was terrible at keeping secrets, so Pidge knew as well-

  
And Pidge would tell Allura when they got back-

  
And Allura would tell Coran-

He felt sick.

"Shiro, I'm gonna' let him in."

"Keith, what-?"

  
Next to him, Keith rose to his feet, nonchalantly making his way to the door. "You need to talk," he said, not leaving any room for argument, "so I'm gonna' let him in, and you're gonna' talk."

Before Shiro could even open his mouth to reply, Keith pulled the door open, revealing Lance stood awkwardly in the hallway. He looked small, almost scared, with his shoulders hunched up near his ears and his eyes fixed determinedly on the floor, hands stiffly locked behind his back.  
The flower was just visible, still in his hand, dangling innocently in the air.

"He's in here," he heard Keith say, and he looked up just as Lance looked away, "for the love of fuck, talk."

With that, Keith left, slamming the door behind him, leaving Lance glancing around the room.  
Basically, anywhere but at Shiro.

It was silent as well, a thick, heavy silence that Shiro was fairly sure he would be able to cut if he tried hard enough.

"So, an interesting day, huh?"

Shiro chuckled dryly. "You could say that."

Lance hummed in front of him, shifting on his feet.

"Do- do you want to sit?"

  
Lance looked up in surprise, before nodding and quickly moving into the space on the bed left empty by Keith. Once he was sat, Shiro turned his body gently towards him, only to see him fiddling with the flower.

  
"So, I- you probably worked it out?"

  
"I- I- Yeah," Lance stuttered. If Shiro looked hard enough, he was fairly sure he could see a blush settle over his face.

Inhale.  
Exhale.

"I'm sorry," Shiro finally said, and the voice that he thought was quiet boomed in the room like gunfire to his ears, "I never intended it to go this far-"

  
"What," Lance interjected, laughing harshly, "you were just gonna' pretend nothing was up? Like, ignore it? Carry on not having feelings like a normal human person?"

Well, it wasn't like he'd been ignoring it for the past three or so years they'd been in space, no way.

"I guess," he admitted with a shrug, turning away from Lance to lace his fingers in his lap, "I- this doesn't have to affect Voltron, I promise; if you want, we can carry on as if this didn't happen-"

  
"And why the hell would I want that?"

  
"I- excuse me?"

  
Lance was glaring at him now, flower discarded gently to one side, but it wasn't an angry glare. Or at least, not mostly.

  
"I said, why would I want to pretend that you don't- don't-"

  
"Love you?"

  
Lance moved back, eyes wide at the words, and Shiro realised that was the first time he had ever admitted that out loud.

  
"Yeah, that," Lance said quietly, smiling to himself, and Shiro couldn't help but smile back. Lance's smiles were infectious at the best of time, warm and genuine.

  
Anyway, back to business.

  
"Well, I assumed you didn't feel the same," Shiro explained, face falling back to seriously, "seeing as only one of us received a flower, but-"

  
"Yeah, we talked about that," Lance said with a shaky smile, sighing and leaning back on his hands, "apparently the brain scan didn't think that my jokes counted as love."

Wait.

"Hey, Shiro?"

The brain scan didn't-

"Shiro?"

Lance loved him-

"You okay-?"  
"So, you love me? I mean-"

Lance blushed, properly this time, pink settling across his cheeks as he began fiddling with the flower petals. "Yeah, I pretty much always have."

  
"Really?"

  
Lance hummed in reply, dumb smile spreading across his face. "Since, like, the Garrison," he admitted, almost breathlessly, "youngest pilot in the world? Of course you were gonna' be my hero."

  
"Your Hero?"

  
"Not anymore, several years of war and fighting together tends to do that to you," Lance said quickly, before cringing and scooting over, "I mean- not like that, I mean- you're human now? Like, I know you're not infallible, not some weird training android like Keith is, and yeah, you mess up sometimes, but you jump back, you carry on. You're incredible." He stopped letting the words hang in the air, and Shiro's heart leapt in his chest. "Sorry."

  
"No, I- I'm honoured," Shiro joked, as Lance's hand landed on top of his, and the room suddenly felt incredibly warm.

"So, wait," Lance spoke up suddenly, and Shiro felt fingers slot between his, "you, like, love me."

  
"Well, yeah," Shiro admitted with a disbelieving laugh, "I guess I do."

  
"You guess?"

  
With a shrug, Shiro turned his hand, wrapping his fingers around Lance's. "Well, if you consider hating seeing you hurt and wanting to kiss you every time you look less than happy love, then I guess-"

  
"You- You want to kiss me?"

Had he-?  
Had he said that?

"I guess-"

  
"Do you do anything other than guessing?"

  
Shiro grinned. "Not really."

A gentle laugh came from Lance, and he placed their hands between them, squeezing in a rhythmic pattern.

"So, are we gonna' be-“

  
"Whatever you want," Shiro replied, squeezing Lance's hand in return, "however fast you want to take it- if you want to, that is."

  
"If I- If?" Lance snorted, before looking up at Shiro with a grin. "Of course I do, I'm not some maiden who needs to be courted, Shiro, I'm, like, an adult, have been for years, and-"

  
"And a paladin of Voltron," Shiro finished for him, rolling over the familiar words, "I know, I just- I just want to do this right.”

  
"You say that as if you've never had a relationship before," Lance joked.

Shiro squeezed his hand once.

"No way-"

  
"Look," Shiro said with an affectionate roll of his eyes and hoping to ignore the flush across his face, "I didn't have much time before Kerberos, and a lot of it was focused on space-"

  
"Seriously?" Lance grinned, leaning on Shiro's shoulder. "So I'm-"

  
"Please don't rub it in."

  
Lance shrugged. "Fine, but I'll retain this knowledge."

"So, we're boyfriends now?"

  
Shiro tilted his head on top of Lance's, nosing gently into his hair. It was softer than he ever thought it would be, silky and faintly floral-smelling.  
"I-"

  
"You dare say 'I guess' again, I'm leaving you here and now."

  
"Fine," Shiro agreed, "yes, we're boyfriends."

  
He heard Lance cheer under his breath, and he gently pressed a kiss to the top of his head.

"So, no more hiding feelings behind weird alien flower ceremonies?"

  
"Definitely not."

  
Lance turned, leaning up to peck Shiro's cheek lazily. "Awesome."

Then Lance shot out from underneath him, eyes wide, and Shiro frowned in concern.  
"Shit, Hunk probably thinks you've eaten me or something," he said quickly, running a hand through his hair, "I should-"

  
"Keith's probably telling them everything," Shiro admitted with a laugh, "don't worry."

  
"Phew." Lance grinned, flopping back on the bed, "so I can I stay here tonight?"

  
"Lance, really?"

  
Lance nodded earnestly, before cringing. "Oh Quiznak, to sleep, I meant," he hastily corrected, sitting up with a sheepish grin on his face, and Shiro couldn't help but laugh, "I meant to cuddle or whatever, but, well..."

He trailed off, eyebrows jumping in what was probably some attempt to be suggestive, but it just made Shiro laugh harder.

  
"Let's not get too ahead of ourselves," Shiro replied, rolling his eyes gently, "but yeah, cuddling sounds good."

Grinning widely again, Lance clambered over the bed, before lying behind Shiro with his head on the pillows and his arms outstretched. "Do you wanna' know why they called me the cuddle master back at the Garrison?"

  
"I want to know if they called you that at all," Shiro replied with a tilted eyebrow, and kicked his legs up onto the bed as Lance threw a scandalised hand against his chest.

  
"You dare doubt my skills?"

  
With a click of his tongue, Lance wrapped his arms around Shiro's shoulders, dragging him down as Shiro's own hands wrapped around his waist.

  
"No," he replied, carefully tugging Lance closer, and trying not to get distracted by the feeling of Lance's soft skin under his fingertips, and his lithe waist and perfect figure that he didn't appreciate properly until now, "but I do require proof."

  
Lance just grinned, tucking his head under Shiro's, and he felt his body practically melt in relaxation before him.

He could get used to this.

The lights clicked off overhead, and the last thing Shiro saw before he dropped off to blissful sleep was a pair of the most gorgeous, ocean eyes he'd ever seen.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you all very much for reading!!!!


End file.
